Armor being a necessity (Advantage Melee) Melees begin with a high
strength, makes sense that a melee needs armor. Mages begin with a low
strength. Strength has more than 1 purpose for a melee, ie it helps with
damage. Mages get no ancillary benefits from strength.

Is effective vs the opposite class naked and unbuffed? (Advantage Melee)
- A naked, unbuffed mage dies in about 3 seconds. A naked, unbuffed
melee still has melee defense and can still dodge/outrun offensive
spells.

Can survive 3 of the opposite class? (Advantage Melee) - A mage will not
survive vs 3 melees, yet a melee can still dodge and outrun the
offensive magics of 3 mages.

Skill required to effectively PvP (Advantage Melee) - It is much easier
to PvP with a melee - You choose a target and surf, and run and heal.
Mages have to target, hit, choose the correct spell type, overcome spell
economy spell failures, etc.

Ease of getting new Turbine quests/special items. (Advantage Melee) - A
level 5 can get a hollow weapon, yet it is close to impossible to stay
stocked in Diamond Scarabs and very time consuming to get the new spell
powders. Researching the new spells can take weeks.

Vulnerability to a raid when unbuffed (Advantage Melee) - A mage in town
unbuffed dies in about 3 seconds, while a melee still has his melee
defense to give him some protection.

Raids a town vs unbuffed people (Advantage Melee) - A melee will kill a
lot of people if he raids town, yet a mage will get one if he is lucky
with his magics.

Cost to level (Advantage Melee) It is much cheaper to level a melee than
a mage.

Length of time you can raid before resupply (Advantage Melee) A mage
carrying about 50 of each component needs to resupply every 3-5 buffs or
about 45 minutes. A melee can effectively raid for many hours, including
buffing his weapons/armor on the fly.

Ease of talking in combat (Advantage Melee)

Can fail an attack not due to opponent's defenses (Advantage Melee) A
mage can fail a spell or the spell can just not go off.

Skill points for main offensive skill (Advantage Melee) No points for
unarmed, staff, or dagger. 16 points for War Magic.

Which one is more lag-effected? (Advantage Melee) Once a melee is locked
on, the server takes over. If a mage lags, his spells don't go off.

Spell Economy (Advantage Melee) Melees don't get weaker as more people
use weapons or surf, yet mages get noticeably weaker due to spell
economy.

Damage bonus (Advantage Melee) Mages get no bonus to damage due to
Focus/Self, yet melees get damage bonuses to due
Strength/Coordination.

Ease of "twinking" (Advantage Melee) It is much easier to help level
a melee than it is a mage.

A few conclusions:

As you can see, out of 28 categories, the melee has the advantage in
26.

In order to look at PvP balance, one cannot put on blinders and see what
happens when a mage and melee fight 1v1 when they are both ready, one
needs to consider the ENTIRE playing experience.

Logically, why should any weapon (ie a hollow) that can be wielded by
any level of person (yes, level 5s included) be so powerful that it
ignores the most potent protective spells known to man or monster?

Logically, why should a level 40 melee (with about 20 million
experience) be able to compete with a level 55 mage (with about 85
million experience)? Why shouldn't a mage, using a level 6 life magic
vulnerability spell and a level 6 war magic spell, the most powerful
spells ever, be able to kill someone with ¼ their experience and using a
skill that cost no Skill Credit to purchase?

I submit that there is NO balance in the PvP of Asheron's Call due to the
above evidence.